Color Out of Space

Richard Stanley's Color Out of Space is the best H.P. Lovecraft adaptation since Re-Animator. Nicolas Cage channels his maximalist energy into the role of a rural father whose family is transformed by an alien meteorite emitting an unknowable color. The body horror is extraordinary — the mother-and-son fusion is among the most disturbing practical effects of the decade. Stanley, returning to filmmaking after decades in the wilderness, brings a genuine sense of cosmic indifference to the material. Cage's performance oscillates between tenderness and unhinged mania, and for once, both registers serve the story perfectly.